Stop Fearing Fat! Just Be Smarter With Your Choices

Over the past 50 years there's been an endless barrage of misinformation and propaganda against eating fat. Although old belief systems die hard, we know now that cholesterol and saturated fats do not cause heart disease. Because dietary fat still has so much stigma surrounding it, lets blow the lid off of the fat myths and set the record straight once and for all!

First of all, saturated fat doesn't cause heart disease and cancer. The fact is, we've been duped for many years into believing eating saturated fat was going to kill us. One of the reasons is that we've seen an epidemic rise of chronic diseases in that same time period. People are told to consume "heart-healthy" industrial seed oils like canola, vegetable, soybean and corn oil, instead of "evil" saturated fats. A study conducted by Harvard University showed that eating more saturated fats prevented the progression of heart disease. Additionally, a second Harvard study showed a high-fat diet consisting of saturated fats in meat and dairy products actually had a threefold decrease in type II diabetes! There's no doubt that good saturated fats are lacking in the standard Western diet. These good fats are essential for our overall health.

So what kinds of fats should you be eating? It's a complicated issue, because you can actually turn good fats into bad fats with improper cooking.

Many people pick a great fat to cook with, but unintentionally turn it into a bad one by oxidizing the fat, causing inflammation in the body. Using olive oil to fry foods is a good example of this. It's important to read the smoking points of the oils you are using, but here is a great list to understand fats:

Saturated: For high heat.

These fats can tolerate higher heat temperatures without becoming oxidized. Buy organic, unrefined forms, from grass-fed sources if animal based.

Unsaturated: For cold uses.

Unsaturated fats can be easily damaged and oxidized when heat is applied to them, turning a healthy fat into an inflammatory, unhealthy one. Buy organic, extra virgin and cold pressed.

Don't eat these: Unhealthy man-made fats and refined seed oils aren't recommended. These oils are highly processed or will oxidize easily with light, air, or heat exposure.

So stop fearing fat! Just be smarter with your choices, and eat what makes your body feel great.

I've written extensively on MindBodyGreen about this topic before, so if you'd like to read more, those links would be a good place to start.